The moment wildcard Dalton knew he had arrived

“Oh shit, this is it.”

That was the immediate thought running through Lochie Dalton’s mind as the starter lights lit up at Sydney, just before the rising star’s first Supercars race.

Dalton made his main game debut in a third Tickford Racing Mustang at last weekend’s Panasonic Air Conditioning Sydney SuperNight.

The Tasmanian finished 22nd and 24th in the two races, which were won by Walkinshaw Andretti United star Chaz Mostert.

Dalton, who is three rounds into his first Dunlop Series campaign with Tickford, only had one test day in the ex-Cam Waters Mustang, which raced earlier this year.

He was quickly thrown in the deep end, getting 90 minutes of practice under his belt on Friday before qualifying on Saturday morning.

Following the driver introductions, it then dawned on Dalton that he was a Supercars driver, saying: “When it was night and the flames were going everywhere, and the lights were on the rev limiter, I was like, 'Oh shit, this is it’."

Dalton admitted the main game was a "massive step up” and that he had a lot to learn, and carried mixed feeling over his performance.

While he made mistakes and “blew the tyre off,” Dalton felt he was a more rounded driver for the experience.

“It was definitely like everyone warned me,” he added on the Schick Cool Down Lap podcast.

"And just little mistakes, which is little in Super2, but just so much more crucial in main game, because these guys don't make mistakes.

"Yeah, a little bit to learn, but yeah, I feel way better, a confident driver after this weekend.”

Dalton will resume his Dunlop Series campaign at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on September 15-17.